Yardbarker
x
Andrew Wiggins is in search of new dimensions
Will Andrew Wiggins ever become more than simply a volume scorer? Hannah Foslien/Getty Images

Andrew Wiggins is in search of new dimensions

Andrew Wiggins is a line, or at least on paper he is. On any 94 by 50 plane, Wiggins can only move from point A to point B, and point B is always buckets. Wiggins does not defend, he does not rebound with verve, nor does he move the ball with intent. At this point in his career, the Timberwolves should be able to subsist on more than just 20 points on 16 shots from a kid they’ve invested their future in, but right now, Wiggins dwells in one dimension.

Wiggins could be the most polarizing figure in the NBA this season. He just received a max contract extension worth $146.5 million over five years, and the Timberwolves absolutely had to give him that money. However, Wiggins simply isn’t producing like the superstar his contract says he is. The potential is there, though, and this is where things get sticky. Before the new deal, Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor all but demanded that Wiggins give him more if he’s going to cash him out.

"To me, by making this offer, I'm speculating that his contribution to the team will be more in the future," said Taylor. "We've got to be better. He can't be paid just for what he's doing today. He's got to be better.”

Wiggins hasn’t been terrible for Minnesota. He increased his scoring averages in each of his first three years and has shown flashes of whom many expected him to be when coming out of high school, then Kansas. If nothing else, Wiggins is a prolific athlete who thrives as a weakside slasher without the ball. Many of his struggles early in his career are consistent with young players entrusted with too much responsibility too early. His usage rate last season was nearly identical to Stephen Curry's in 2015, but the production coming out of the amount of time with the ball is markedly different. Wiggins had the ball in his hands too much for someone who doesn’t create for others, and this is usually the recipe leading to poor decision making and shot selection.

Last season, Wiggins was a bastion of inefficiency. Over 50 percent of his field goal attempts were medium to long two-point shots while only 47 percent came at the rim or behind the three-point line. For comparative measures, 77 percent of the shots James Harden put up last season were either right at the rim or behind the arch. While Wiggins will never approach the rate of high-percentage shots that Harden takes, he has to start moving in that direction if the youngster is to begin breaking out of his volume scoring cocoon.

There are signs that his metamorphosis is taking place, though. Last season, his three-point shooting jumped up five percentage points from the year before, and he shot 41 percent on catch-and-shoot threes. With the additions of Jimmy Butler and Jeff Teague, much more of his workload will come off the ball. This season, he’s already shooting 11 percent more threes than he was last season while only shooting a shade under his career-high clip. His usage rate has come down, and he’s settling into a role that is more beneficial to both Wiggins and the Timberwolves. Considering Wiggins's size and athleticism, Butler should be an archetype he aspires to become.

Wiggins, however, is the diametrical opposite of Butler on the defensive end of the floor. At Butler’s peak, he’s one of the 10 best perimeter defenders in the NBA. Since Butler entered the league, only 10 different wings have finished the season with more than 4.5 defensive win shares. Last season, Wiggins may have been the worst wing defender in the NBA. When he contested shots, opponents had an eFG% nearly identical to what the league average was for players who were wide open. Much of Wiggins’s troubles stem from an ostensible lack of effort, which is even more troubling with defensive-minded Tom Thibodeau coaching the team. He’s lazy closing out defenders and loses assignments on the weakside by ball watching. Knowing that Karl-Anthony Towns has struggled mightily on that end of the floor, too, it may be up to Butler to help turn things around on that end.

In search of a second and third dimension, Wiggins is going to have to begin on the defensive end of the floor. As his shot selection improves and he matures as a decision maker, everything will eventually come together for him as an offensive threat. With Butler on the opposite wing, the Timberwolves could become downright dangerous if Wiggins can just improve to a middle-of-the-pack defender. He has the length and lateral quickness to disrupt ball handlers and the speed to be disruptive in the passing lanes or closing out on shooters.

The onus is on Wiggins to help the Timberwolves fully realize their potential. He and Towns now have the help and coaching many other young teams are still in search of. Before losing to the Warriors, the 'Wolves rattled off five consecutive wins showing that they belong among the Western Conference playoff-bound teams. To become one of the elite teams in the NBA, Wiggins must evolve from a line to an object with breadth, then depth. Minnesota’s only hope in finding postseason success is if Wiggins discovers new dimensions.

Can you name the top three overall picks in every NBA Draft since 1985?
SCORE:
0/111
TIME:
10:00
1985-NYK
Patrick Ewing
1985-IND
Wayman Tisdale
1985-LAC
Benoit Benjamin
1986-CLE
Brad Daugherty
1986-BOS
Len Bias
1986-GSW
Chris Washburn
1987-SAS
David Robinson
1987-PHO
Armen Gilliam
1987-NJN
Dennis Hopson
1988-LAC
Danny Manning
1988-IND
Rik Smits
1988-PHI
Charles Smith
1989-SAC
Pervis Ellison
1989-LAC
Danny Ferry
1989-SAS
Sean Elliott
1990-NJN
Derrick Coleman
1990-SEA
Gary Payton
1990-DEN
Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf
1991-CHH
Larry Johnson
1991-NJN
Kenny Anderson
1991-SAC
Billy Owens
1992-ORL
Shaquille O'Neal
1992-CHH
Alonzo Mourning
1992-MIN
Christian Laettner
1993-ORL
Chris Webber
1993-PHI
Shawn Bradley
1993-GSW
Anfernee Hardaway
1994-MIL
Glenn Robinson
1994-DAL
Jason Kidd
1994-DET
Grant Hill
1995-GSW
Joe Smith
1995-LAC
Antonio McDyess
1995-PHI
Jerry Stackhouse
1996-PHI
Allen Iverson
1996-TOR
Marcus Camby
1996-VAN
Shareef Abdur-Rahim
1997-SAS
Tim Duncan
1997-PHI
Keith Van Horn
1997-BOS
Chauncey Billups
1998-LAC
Michael Olowokandi
1998-VAN
Mike Bibby
1998-DEN
Raef LaFrentz
1999-CHI
Elton Brand
1999-VAN
Steve Francis
1999-CHH
Baron Davis
2000-NJN
Kenyon Martin
2000-VAN
Stromile Swift
2000-LAC
Darius Miles
2001-WAS
Kwame Brown
2001-LAC
Tyson Chandler
2001-ATL
Pau Gasol
2002-HOU
Yao Ming
2002-CHI
Jay Williams
2002-GSW
Mike Dunleavy
2003-CLE
LeBron James
2003-DET
Darko Milicic
2003-DEN
Carmelo Anthony
2004-ORL
Dwight Howard
2004-CHA
Emeka Okafor
2004-CHI
Ben Gordon
2005-MIL
Andrew Bogut
2005-ATL
Marvin Williams
2005-UTA
Deron Williams
2006-TOR
Andrea Bargnani
2006-CHI
LaMarcus Aldridge
2006-CHA
Adam Morrison
2007-POR
Greg Oden
2007-SEA
Kevin Durant
2007-ATL
Al Horford
2008-CHI
Derrick Rose
2008-MIA
Michael Beasley
2008-MIN
O.J. Mayo
2009-LAC
Blake Griffin
2009-MEM
Hasheem Thabeet
2009-OKC
James Harden
2010-WAS
John Wall
2010-PHI
Evan Turner
2010-NJN
Derrick Favors
2011-CLE
Kyrie Irving
2011-MIN
Derrick Williams
2011-UTA
Enes Kanter
2012-NOH
Anthony Davis
2012-CHA
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
2012-WAS
Bradley Beal
2013-CLE
Anthony Bennett
2013-ORL
Victor Oladipo
2013-WAS
Otto Porter
2014-CLE
Andrew Wiggins
2014-MIL
Jabari Parker
2014-PHI
Joel Embiid
2015-MIN
Karl-Anthony Towns
2015-LAL
D'Angelo Russell
2015-PHI
Jahlil Okafor
2016-PHI
Ben Simmons
2016-LAL
Brandon Ingram
2016-BOS
Jaylen Brown
2017-PHI
Markelle Fultz
2017-LAL
Lonzo Ball
2017-BOS
Jayson Tatum
2018-PHO
Deandre Ayton
2018-SAC
Marvin Bagley
2018-ATL
Luka Doncic
2019-NOP
Zion Williamson
2019-MEM
Ja Morant
2019-NYK
RJ Barrett
2020-MIN
Anthony Edwards
2020-GSW
James Wiseman
2020-CHO
LaMelo Ball
2021-DET
Cade Cunningham
2021-HOU
Jalen Green
2021-CLE
Evan Mobley

More must-reads:

Customize Your Newsletter

+

Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.